HOUSTON (Ticker) -- The Houston Rockets escaped with a pair of
narrow victories in their first two meetings with the Golden
State Warriors this season. Tonight, they left nothing to
chance.

Hakeem Olajuwon had 18 points, 11 rebounds and a season-high six
blocked shots as the Rockets rolled to their largest margin of
victory and ninth straight home win, 111-74 over the Warriors.

"(Hakeem) was phenomenal protecting the basket and blocking
shots," Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "We finally had a
chance to rest somebody. We've had games where we've been up,
but let them back in the game."

After winning the previous two meetings at Golden State by a
combined three points, the Rockets put the Warriors away early.
Trailing 26-25 with 9:22 remaining in the second quarter,
Houston went on an 11-3 run to take the lead for good, 36-29,
with 5:33 left.

Rookie Cuttino Mobley scored 17 points and Charles Barkley added
14 for the Rockets, who placed all five starters in double
figures and posted their 22nd win in the last 25 encounters with
the Warriors. No starter logged more than 33 minutes.

With the win, Houston pulled within one-half game of idle
second-place San Antonio in the Midwest Division. The Rockets
host the Spurs on Thursday before visiting first-place Utah on
Sunday.

"This was really a must win with some of the games we have
coming up," Tomjanovich added. "Defense was the key, we got some
fast breaks and Cuttino did a good job of getting everybody the
ball."

Rookie Antawn Jamison collected 13 points and Tony Delk added 11
off the bench for Golden State, which has lost 10 of 11 on the
road.

"I hate making excuses, but this was our fourth game in five
days and we knew this game was important and we just didn't get
the job done," said Jamison. "We came in scared and we gave them
all the confidence they needed."

Jason Caffey scored 10 points for the Warriors, who committed a
season-low seven turnovers but shot a woeful 31 percent
(27-of-88) from the field.

"I think Houston has three superstars and we backed down from
them and we just can't do that," Caffey said. "They (Olajuwon,
Barkley and Scottie Pippen) made all their role players go."

The 37-point margin nearly doubled Houston's previous largest
this season. The Rockets twice had recorded 19-point wins.

"Coach was talking to us before the game about being more
aggressive," said Mobley. "It's up to me as a point guard to
keep our aggressiveness going and to apply defensive pressure."

The Rockets did suffer a significant loss during the contest.
Reserve point guard Brent Price suffered torn cartilage in his
right meniscus late in the first half. Team physician Walter
Lowe said Price would undergo surgery Tuesday morning and be
sidelined at least 3-to-4 weeks.

Leading 53-45 with 8:32 remaining in the third quarter, the
Rockets exploded with a 22-6 run to put matters to rest.

Pippen made a 3-pointer from the left sideline to begin the run
and Dickerson's shot from beyond the arc with 3:08 left capped
it, giving the Rockets a 75-51 cushion.

Golden State suffered its worst loss, surpassing a 106-78
setback against Milwaukee on March 3.

"We're disappointed because we played one of our poorest games
all year," Golden State coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "We played
poorly but Houston had a lot to do with that. We couldn't do
anything right."